The Path Seldom Walked
by Die Schreiber
Summary: Pre-series. Naruto learns that though others won't believe in you, you have to believe in yourself.


It was barely dusk, like every other night; almost.

October tenth was the annual festival to honour the death of the Yondiame and to celebrate his getting rid of the Kyuubi.

The adults gathered in the main street of Konoha, trying to watch their children, but eventually agreeing to meet back at some shop or other later on.

A small boy, six or so, walked along the street, looking at the wares that were being sold. He eyed many small trinkets, cheap little fake kunai that parents bought their younger children. He'd seen a father give his daughter one a few hours earlier.

The blonde reached in his pocket, searching for the money that he knew he shouldn't be spending on this stuff. He only had so much, but this looked so cool.

The merchant noticed the boy eying his table and walked forward. "Get out of her, gaki." He said sharply, slamming a fist on the table.

The child jumped, as did a few other of the people standing there.

"I have enough to buy this…" the child stated firmly, though his shoulders shook slightly.

Picking up the small trinket, the man threw it at the boy, "I don't want your money." He snapped, a hateful glare directed at the small child. "Now get away from my shop. _You_ shouldn't even be able to celebrate."

The boy picked the trinket up off the ground, tears falling down his cheeks. He didn't even bother looking at the faces of the people around him. They were always the same. They always looked at him in hatred or full of pity, but never once did he see the one thing parents always gave _their_ children; love.

He hurried from the spectacle and ran, crying, back to his home, clutching the kunai to his chest.

He slammed the door shut behind himself and slid down the wall, tears rolling down his cheeks and hiccupped.

"Maybe I don't deserve it…" he mumbled to himself. He shook the thought instantly from his head and wiped the tears away.

The old man said big boys didn't need to cry. They shouldn't listen to the taunting or the pay attention to others, but sometimes the boy couldn't understand how the Hokage didn't see how hurtful they really were.

The young boy stood up and ran to his window, throwing the miniature kunai out the window.

He didn't really need it, he was a big boy; maybe being a big boy would make them nicer to him. They were just mad at him for being a child.

The thought that dawned on him caused him to frown.

"I'll be a grownup from now on." He decided aloud.

Just then there was a knock at the young boy's door.

Hurriedly wiping his eyes for any remnants of tears, he opened his door.

"Naruto," the Hokage said, a small smile on his face. "May I come in?"

"Jiji," the boy smiled slightly, moving aside. "Why're you here?" he asked, though obviously he knew the answer. The old man came to his home every October 10th.

"Well, to wish you a happy birthday, boy." He laughed. He pulled a small box from behind his back and held the brightly coloured present out to the boy. "Happy birthday, Naruto." He said.

The young blonde giddily grabbed the box, barely wasting time to unwrap it, and yanked it open. Inside was a set of goggles, ones he'd been looking at for quite some time.

"WOW!" he gasped, pulling them quickly onto his head. "Thank you so much!"

The hokage laughed, "I'm glad. I saw you were enjoying the festival today. I think you dropped this," he said, placing the small kunai onto a small table.

Naruto glanced at it for a moment before looking away. "Yeah… I guess I did drop it." He smiled.

The hokage watched the boy try to fool him, but his forced happiness didn't reach his eyes. He gave a small, unheard sigh, then turned around. "Well, I have a festival to go to. I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto."

"Tomorrow?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You start the academy tomorrow," The old man laughed lightly, waving at the boy. "I'll be there to greet the new students. Be sure you aren't late." He said, then left.

Naruto excitedly got ready for bed, not bothering to clean up. Not that he would have anyway, but the promise the next day held for him weighed too heavily on his mind for him to think about much else.

He went to bed with a smile on his face, and dreamt of the next day.


End file.
